Cytochrome P4502E1- and cytochrome P4502B1/2B2-catalyzed carbon tetrachloride metabolism: effects on signal transduction as demonstrated by altered immediate-early (c-Fos and c-Jun) gene expression and nuclear AP-1 and NF-kappa B transcription factor levels.

We have previously reported that carbon tetrachloride (CCI4) stimulates c-fos, c-jun, and Ca(2+)-activated neutral protease gene expression in rat hepatic tissue (Zawaski et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 197, 585-590, 1993). The proteins c-Fos and c-Jun constitute inducible transcription factors in signal transduction and regulate the transcriptional activation of a battery of genes involved in cell growth and division. The present study was initiated to characterize the role of cytochrome P450 expression and metabolic activation on the magnitude of immediate-early (i.e. c-fos and c-jun) gene expression. Animals were treated either with diallyl sulfide, N-acetylcysteine, pyridine, or phenobarbital before treatment with CCI4. Total and poly(A)+ RNA were isolated, and c-fos and c-jun mRNA levels were analyzed by Northern blot and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analyses. Treatment of animals with CCI4 increased c-fos and c-jun mRNA levels from below the limit of detection in control tissue to intense bands within 30 min of treatment, with maximal expression monitored at 1 and 2 hr posttreatment. Treatment of animals with diallyl sulfide alone also elevated c-fos and c-jun mRNA expression to detectable levels. However, pretreatment of animals with diallyl sulfide before treatment with CCI4 produced a 76-92% decrease in c-fos and c-jun mRNA levels, relative to that monitored for CCI4-treated animals. Pretreatment with N-acetylcysteine did not affect c-fos or c-jun mRNA levels and diminished CCI4-stimulated c-fos and c-jun gene expression by 44 and 55%, respectively, relative to the immediate-early gene mRNA levels monitored in the hepatic tissue of CCI4-treated animals. Pretreatment of animals with the CYP2E1 inducer pyridine for 24 hr had only a marginal effect on c-fos mRNA levels, but increased CCI4-stimulated c-fos and c-jun mRNA levels by an additional approximately 2- to approximately 4-fold over those monitored in the uninduced hepatic tissue of CCI4-treated animals. Whereas phenobarbital treatment alone enhanced c-fos expression only marginally, CCI4 treatment of phenobarbital-pretreated animals increased c-fos expression by up to an additional approximately 8-fold and c-jun mRNA levels by up to an additional approximately 5-fold over the respective levels monitored in the hepatic tissue of CCI4-treated animals. Enhanced CYP2E1 or CYP2B1/2B2 levels after treatment with pyridine or phenobarbital elevated c-fos mRNA over untreated controls. This increase was marginal, however, and detectable only with reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Examination of nuclear levels of the heterodimeric c-Fos and c-Jun AP-1 transcription factor complex revealed a time-dependent increase in AP-1 levels. AP-1 transcription factor binding was confirmed using competitor consensus sequences and antibody supershifts. Nuclear levels of NF-kappa B, a transcription factor complex implicated in hepatocyte proliferation and apoptotic or programmed cell death, were also examined. NF-kappa B, which consists of the p50 and p65/Rel A polypeptides, was increased in hepatic nuclear extracts at 2 and 24 hr after CCI4 administration, with a concomitant decrease in the p50 polypeptide. Thus, the magnitude of CCI4 stimulation of the immediate-early genes c-fos and c-jun is dependent on metabolic activation by the P450s, and the magnitude of the effect is dependent on the levels and isozyme composition of P450s in the tissue. Furthermore, nuclear transcription factor levels of AP-1 and NF-kappa B are elevated in response to this toxicant.